Bly not Shy

Walt Harris and Tarell Brown were expected to have the most intense battle for a starting job on defense in training camp; now it seems that Harris’s replacement, Dre Bly, will fulfill Harris’s role and then some. Just ask him, which is what a media contingent of about a dozen did Monday following the team’s organized team activity practice.

Bly makes a convincing argument – he’s always been among the league’s top interceptors, he’s always been a starter, he has stayed healthy the last three years and he expects to be lighter when the season starts which he believes makes up for his age (he turned 32 last month).

On the field, Bly looked fair in limited duty. He got beat deep by Josh Morgan, who caught a perfectly thrown bomb to him over Bly for what would have been a long touchdown.

BRUCE SPOTTED: Wide receiver Isaac Bruce made his first appearance in the voluntary organized team activities and he did a fly pattern past reporters. Bruce said he’ll talk to the media this weekend at the team’s mandatory minicamp. Bruce is still wearing no. 80 in practice, which looks garish on anybody other than Jerry Rice. Bruce said last year he wears it because it makes him feel comfortable and because he can spot himself more readily on film.

Lame excuses both, and it’s bad form the 49ers allow Bruce to wear Rice’s number anywhere but in the privacy of Bruce’s own home. What about tradition, about legacy, about preserving a uniform number for the best receiver to ever play the game?

PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS: Delanie Walker got several turns Monday and looked terrific. Wherever you are, the catch of the day might be sand daps, but here in Santa Clara the designation goes to a leaping one-handed snare by Walker. … Alex Smith went through a stretch of misfiring three straight passes to fullback Moran Norris, and then two mis-throws to Dominique Zeigler. Zeigler returned after missing a few days in the last set of OTA’s due to a concussion he sustained when safety Dashon Goldson crunched him. … Goldson made another interception. … Coach Mike Singletary blurted, “Somebody has got to block somebody!” after a running play went nowhere in team drills. … Running back Michael Robinson made a nice inside move on Takeo Spikes to free himself for a short catch-and-run. … Linebacker Ahmad Brooks, safety Mark Roman and cornerback Nate Clements missed practice on Monday because he wasn’t feeling well. Brooks told Singletary he would miss Monday’s session, but the reason was not disclosed. … The 49ers will have another practice tomorrow and then will recess until their second and final mandatory minicamp this weekend. … New Union chief DeMaurice Smith making the rounds to all or most NFL teams, was at Santa Clara on Monday. He plans to visit the Raiders tomorrow. Smith made himself available to the media, and he might be more accessible than the late Gene Upshaw, his predessesor. He might also be gathering good will for what promises to be a show down over the next collective bargaining agreement. … Walt Harris hasn’t had surgery yet to repair his severed ACL and neither the team nor Harris’s camp and willing yet to say he’s out of the season.